


Roots (Kings AU)

by SimplySyra



Series: Blood on Gold Kings [21]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Achievement Hunters, Alternate Universe - Achievement Hunter Kings, Mad King Ryan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 13:45:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2814107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplySyra/pseuds/SimplySyra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ignore the tree.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roots (Kings AU)

He lay gently cradled by the soft whispering grasses as the cool ground drank up the feverish heat of his wounds. Above him, the tree stretched noble branches tirelessly towards sapphire skies, its ocean of leaves turning the sun’s hot glare into a cool, emerald glow that soothed his angry bruises.

Beneath him, the ground gave a trembling moan.

Grunting his pain, he bade aching muscles to push his weakened body into an upright position.

"I told you to ignore the tree," he panted, wiping the hot trickling mark of defeat from the corner of his mouth.

The Mad One stood gazing down over the edge of the precipice, withering the air around him into jagged edges. “Yes, you did. So I knew exactly where to find you.”

His quarry shrugged. “Well, it was worth a shot.”

"Wasn’t it, though," said the Mad King absently. He turned and nodded toward the silent swaying giant. "Why a tree?"

The Trickster’s lips pulled into a cracked and bleeding grin. “You don’t recognize it?”

His mirth shriveled quickly under the other’s sharp gaze.

"No, I guess not. Well, it was the first thing he made. This tree."

Dark brows arched. “And you’ve kept it? Raised the very earth beneath its roots into the clouds to protect it?”

The Trickster sighed, eyes dropping to the ground as he drew tiny circles in the grass with the tip of a dirty golden boot. “There’s not much of him left in one place anymore. You must see it. He’s thin, faded. More wind and rain than starfire and light now.”

Only silence from the other.

"So," the Trickster continued doggedly, "It has the most of the Maker in it. He’s always said that men were made in his image, but what could be more the Allfather than this? Who else could make breath of the sun, or pluck life from the dirt and the mud?"

His head shot up at the muffled sigh of the Mad One’s sword sliding back into its sheath.

"What are yo—"

His mouth snapped shut as the other made as if to grasp his blade again.

The Mad One hesitated, then turned away, and the Trickster watched in silent bewilderment as the other tipped off the edge of their tiny island world into the clear skies beyond and disappeared.

Crisp, sunny air rushed through and across the Mad King’s haggard features as he hurtled towards the ground, hand pressed to his chest. Still empty. Still cold. But for a moment, standing there at the foot of that peaceful, living monument, he had felt a familiar heat. A sharp, steady beat that rapped against his ribs like the fist of a child against a bedroom door, pleading without a voice.

_Let me in. Let me in. It’s cold, and I’m scared, and the monster is here._


End file.
